Incoming student Exchange

If you're studying at one of UC's Exchange partner institutions you may be eligible for the incoming student Exchange programme.

Why student Exchange at UC?

Come on Exchange to UC and discover New Zealand. New Zealand is known throughout the world as a country of great natural beauty that is easy to fall in love with and impossible to forget. The country's lakes, mountains, native forest, open spaces and clean air provide a magical backdrop to your Study Abroad experience.

Partner institutions

You must be nominated by one of UC's partner institutions. As an Exchange student you are not required to pay tuition fees to the University of Canterbury.

Check the map below to see if your institution is amongst UC's 50+ exchange partners.

University of Adelaide

WU - Vienna University of Economics and Business

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)

Novia Scotia College of Art and Design

Queen's University

Simon Fraser University

University of Alberta

University of British Columbia

University of Saskatchewan

University of Waterloo

Shanghai University of Finance and Economics

Tsinghua University

University of Hong Kong

Wuhan University

Zhejiang Gongshang University

Zhongnan University of Economics and Law

University of Copenhagen

Aalto University School of Business

Audencia Nantes School of Management

Grenoble University

IEP Aix

IEP Lyon & University of Lyon 2

Institute of Political Science, Paris

University of La Rochelle

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt

Konstanz University

University of Freiburg

WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management

ROSE

Akita International University

Bunkyo University

Osaka University - Graduate School of Information Science and Technology

Kwansei Gakuin University

Waseda University

University of Tokyo

Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics

Lomonosov Moscow State University - The Higher School of Translation and Interpretation

National University of Singapore

Singapore Management University

Yonsei University

Pompeu Fabra University

University of Castilla La Mancha

University of Navarra - School of Economics and Business Administration

If your institution is not listed, your home institution's International Relationships Office will be able to tell you whether there is an exchange agreement in place with UC and advise you how to apply for nomination.

Entry requirements for incoming Student Exchange

You will be expected to have achieved a high academic standard in your studies at your home university. Your home institution needs to nominate you to be considered for the exchange programme. This means you need to check the entry requirements determined by your home institution.

A standard workload is 60 points per semester, and although different courses have different points values, in most cases each course will be 15 points. A normal full-time programme for a semester would be three or four courses.

Course offerings are subject to change.

Confirm your course selection

Some courses, programmes and subjects have restrictions.

Civil and Natural Resource Engineering

While the Department of Civil and Natural Resource Engineering welcomes Study Abroad and Exchange students and can usually accommodate most course requests, there are limits on capacity in some Civil and Natural Resource Engineering courses.

In order to ensure that you know in advance whether you will be able to be accommodated into the courses you need, UC now require that all students wishing to take any Civil and Natural Resource Engineering courses (courses coded ENCN, ENNR or ENCI) include a list of courses they want to take at UC with their application.

Students who meet general admission requirements will be granted admission to the University first as per usual and your courses will then be sent to Department of Civil and Natural Resource Engineering for a decision as to whether you are able to take your selected courses. The International Relationships Office will then advise you as to which courses have been approved.

If you are applying to other engineering courses it is also recommended that you provide a list of courses with your application.

Accommodation

Visas

It is not possible for exchange students to travel to New Zealand on a visitor's visa and apply for a student permit upon arrival in New Zealand, even if you are a citizen of a country with which New Zealand has a visa waiver agreement. It is imperative that you get your student visa before traveling to New Zealand, as you may be refused a student permit if you apply from within New Zealand.

Full details of visa and permit requirements, advice on rights to employment in New Zealand while studying, and reporting requirements are available from Immigration New Zealand. When your application for admission is approved, the University of Canterbury will provide you information on the location of the appropriate office of Immigration New Zealand.

Application closing dates

There are two opportunities per year to apply to the incoming student Exchange programme:

First semester (February to June) – the closing date for applications is 1 November of the previous year.

Second semester (July to November) – the closing date for applications is 15 April.

Apply for incoming Student Exchange

Step 1. Complete the incoming Student Exchange application form

If your institution is a University of Canterbury Exchange partner, you need to be nominated by your home institution to be able to apply. Once you have been nominated, complete the incoming student Exchange application form.

Step 2. Your home institution will send completed form and supporting documents

Once you have completed the form you need to submit it to your home university. They will send your application to UC by email with the required documents including your official transcript, nomination letter from your home university and evidence that you have met UC's English language requirements, if English is not your first language.

If your transcript does not show the courses that you are currently taking at your home university, please provide a list of these courses signed by your home university.

UC cannot accept faxed applications and exchange applications sent to us from students by email.

Step 3. Application approval

When UC has received your application, we will send you an email to confirm this.

UC will then process your application and normally notify you within 4 weeks of the decision.

Step 4. Next steps

If you have been accepted, you will receive an email copy of your offer of a place, along with information on: